Companies that engage in commercial transactions often communicate to each other to negotiate terms of their transactions. For example, purchasers who wish to purchase an item may send a purchase order to a supplier. The purchase order may set forth the number of items that are requested, the price, and a requested delivery date. The supplier may respond with a confirmation or with an alternate proposal setting forth items that can be delivered, a price and dates that the supplier is able to deliver these items.
Businesses are using computer technology to improve their operations. For example, suppliers may allow purchasers to place electronic orders for goods or services using their computer terminal. These electronic orders may be placed via an information network such as the World Wide Web (“WWW”). The supplier's computer system may support portal-based communication with a browser at the purchaser's computer system. The purchaser may be presented with information via a web page, which can be modified as requested.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) may be used to communicate business transactions, such as orders, confirmations and invoices, between organizations electronically. Exemplary EDI protocols include protocols standardized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) such as X.12, UN/EDIFACT, and VDA/ODETTE. An EDI protocol may transfer data in files by synchronizing the time of transfer of the files between the system that is sending the data and the system that is receiving the data.
Some orders that are placed are large and may include, for example, thousands of line items where each line item specifies a product to be ordered, a quantity and other conventional commercial terms. Orders may be reviewed and revised by a purchaser while the order resides on a supplier's computer system awaiting fulfillment. Browsing through an order that contains thousands of line items is labor-intensive and arduous. A less difficult user interface is needed for browsing large orders.